It was another beautiful morning in the jungle oasis my heroic son, Timon, had moved us into. The sun had risen just enough to make the sky a gorgeous purple and blue wonder. My darling Timmy was visiting for the week, and so I decided to go over to the hammock he'd made himself out of blooming vines, which was where he was sleeping that night. It was set up clear on the other side of the jungle from the grassbed I was sleeping in, but it was worth it to check in with my sweet little boy.
On my way there, I saw my older brother, Max. He was yelling loudly at a stick, so loudly, in fact, that I was surprised nobody was getting ticked off at him and telling him to shut the heck up so they could sleep.
"YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF WOOD! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CONTINUE WALKING FORWARD WITH YOU IN MY WAY!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU STUPID - "
"Uh, Max, it's a stick. You could just pick it up and move it. Or, you could go around it.", I interrupted. He had probably ranted at it for quite awhile, knowing him. He'd been a bit nicer since coming here, but there were still quite a few moments when he would be a complete grouch.
"I can't pick it up, it's stuck! And it's too big to simply 'move around' it.", he retorted. I just shook my head and sighed. Sometimes, my big brother could be so ridiculous, it's a wonder nobody ever took him to the same place they took Iron Joe back when we lived in the ground. (In case you wanted an update, Joe is now just as sane as the rest of us. Which is to say that he isn't entirely sane, but at least he's not going into paranoid sobbing fits anymore. Maybe I should've picked a better example of how "easy" sentry duty would be, but, for the sake of putting the past behind us, I'll forgive myself for that.) I walked over, and I tried to pick up the stick. Max was right that it was stuck, but it wasn't really all that big, so I have no idea why he wouldn't just go the heck around it.
"Okay, you're correct that it's stuck in the dirt, and unable to be picked up. However, I think you can easily go around it, and I highly suggest you do. Unless you'd rather sit here, wasting your precious energy shouting at it.", I said.
He scowled and said, "Fine. I'll go around the stick.". Then he started grumbling to himself as he walked around it.
And so, I continued on my way, having solved Max's little stick problem, so that I could talk to my son. I walked for quite awhile, but when I finally got there, I was glad that I had. More glad than I would have been any other day. And very scared, as well.
